Diary of a Marketing Man Part II: The Disapearing Prospect
In my last post I discussed two really great clients, Mobycity, and the Financial Times. It was easy to work with them, and incredible to see how they showed up with integrity in our business dealings. We had clear lines of communication, everyone articulated what there expectations were, and in the end in was a win-win. Now the dark side of running a small business in Westchester. I have to call two local Westchester marketing and promotions companies to the carpet for their lack of communication recently: David Quas of Excell Print Promotions and Mark Stevens of Mark Stevens and Co. This is not meant to be another episode of “Shame on You,” or a Salem Witch hunt, but I am looking for people however they show up in my life to take some responsibility. I always have a hard time breaking down the tape after initial conversations sound positive and forward thinking, but here we go.
In Spring 2009 I noticed through my occasional prospecting on Craigslist that Mark Stevens and Co. were looking for some help with their own marketing and SEO, kind of ironic coming from the author of “Your Marketing Sucks.” I made initial contact, and the VP whose name I have chosen to forget invites me in to meet Mark and “the team”. Well, Mark and “the team” never made it, because they were too busy learning how to juggle flaming swords and building baking soda volcanoes. Kinda shows you how much value they place on human connections. In any event, me and the VP agreed that she would pass along a project they were working on, and I would put together a proposal.
To make a long story short, I got caught in the Blackberry chain-linked fence of text messaging and email dueling, never quite figuring out what exactly they had in mind. Gaining clarity was really not an option. Finally I gave up.
Now to the next bout of confusion. Two weeks ago my buddy calls me up, telling me his new boss wants to improve his page rank and address some of the reasons why his site has almost no affiliation with the search engine results pages (SERPs). He’s supposedly ready to do some SEO on his site for his company’s site, Excell Print Promotions. Keep in mind the entire site is littered with on-page issues ranging from no keywords to totally invalid code. The semantics and links on the page have no structure whatsoever. He wants a Ghost Blogger, someone to manage his online reputation, build a blog, and create an aggressive link building strategy. Basically he’s looking for a full service search engine optimization solution, but he’s shopping with champagne taste on a malt liquor budget. The SERPs don’t even know that he exists.
Warning sign #1: He plays the victim of predatory SEO companies who have ripped him off in the past.
I call up David looking to see if he has any questions and if we are going to proceed. Frantic, he tells me he’s busy and to call him back.
Warning sign #2: I said, “I understand you’re busy. Why don’t you give me a call later when you’re available and we’ll talk then.” He says sure. An afternoon passes, no call.
I wake up the next morning with an email apologizing for not getting back to me, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I call him again, this time leaving a message with his secretary. On Facebook I get an IM from my friend saying, “So, what’s going on? Have you spoken with David?” I explain the situation and he tells me to give him one more call. I place my final call, leaving a message on his voice mail. I hear back from my buddy less than an hour later through Facebook that the proposal is out of their price range… Where was David though? I can take no, I’m a big boy, but are you really too important to do it yourself? Rejection is a part of being in sales. The quicker you understand that the better off you will be. Willy Loman never managed to hack it, but I’ve experienced enough of it that so long as I hear it from the horse’s mouth it’s all good.
It makes no sense chasing after someone who is not ready to buy. The dichotomy between straight shooters and passive aggressive smoking mirrors in business and society leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. So where exactly do we go from here? I will offer my hope for humanity in my next post, Diary of a Marketing Man Part III.
Need to vent, air out some dirty laundry, or just want share your experience in sales? Let us know what you’re thinking.
By Dustin at
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